Superstitious

Do you consider yourself a superstitious person? For example, do you avoid black cats, step over cracks in the sidewalk, walk around ladders, consider the number 7 an unlucky number, or fear Friday the 13th? I personally have never been very superstitious. I'm more of a realist. In fact, it always irritates me how in some high-rise buildings you'll find floor 14 to be directly above floor 12. I mean, any truly superstitious person would thus be equally afraid of floor 14, knowing all along that it's really floor 13, right? I'm not just rambling here. Going forward in life I think I am going to be a little more weary of traditionally "bad luck" occurrences and here's why...

 

It's that time of year when you reflect on the past year's events, what you accomplished, what you didn't, and think about changes you'd like to make for the coming year. Last year at this time I blogged about how I'm not a huge fan of the typical "New Year's Resolution" and had personally made a list of goals that I wanted to achieve in 2013. Some I met with ease, others I worked hard at but didn't quite accomplish in their entirety, and others I flat-out failed at. Looking back over 2013 though, the year seemed to be filled with more disappointments than anything. I know you can't succeed at everything in life but I'd like to think that the harder you work, the more success you will have. After a series of failed attempts at things though, discouragement sets in and being a glass-half-empty person, this eventually makes you look at everything in a negative manner. Not any more though. A couple of days ago a friend of mine pointed out that this year was 2013. I repeat, TWO THOUSAND THIRTEEN!!! Clearly it was just a bad luck year and having survived this year, I can survive anything! I now consider myself a superstitious person and will forever avoid the number 13 at all costs. Bring it on 2014...it can only go up from here! Or so I hope anyway :)

 

As far as 2014 goals go I haven't yet thought much about what I'd like to accomplish in the coming year so expect another post (or more) in the next couple of weeks. Right now I'm just trying to survive the pre-Christmas craziness and get my life back on track now that I've mentally accepted that I'll be pushing through another frigid Winter in Maine!

 

On another note, tomorrow marks 1 week of successfully avoiding the myfitnesspal app! It's funny how when you're addicted to something you feel like it would be impossible to quit whatever it is but once you actually get up the strength to do so, you realize it really wasn't such a big deal in the first place :) I actually do feel quite a bit less stressed throughout the day just by not having the option of clicking on it a gagillion times per hour to remind myself what my current level of macros are or how many calories I have left in the day. My diet is exactly the same as it was beforehand except that I'm less anal about adding-in a little extra here and there (a glass of wine with dinner or an extra fruit during the day for example). I know my carbs and cals are thus a bit higher than they were before but I'm just going to use this month of track-free dieting as an experiment to see if I get any muscle growth from the increased intake. I do feel a little fatter in my problem areas but given that it's only been a week I'm sure it's more in my head than anything. Right now I'm enjoying a Nonfat double-shot medium latte as a mid-afternoon snack; something I should not feel guilty about but normally would because its an extra 19 carbs (mostly from the sugar naturally occuring in the milk) that I don't need in my diet! My justification is that I'll need the extra carb and caffeine boost when I train legs tonight LOL. Friday is supposed to be my cardio-only day but we're supposed to be hit with freezing rain on and off this weekend and since I can't foresee when the gym may unexpectedly close or when my car may not budge out of the driveway, I figure its best to get it done tonight and have a cardio-only or a true rest day this weekend if need be. Weight training is WAY more important and beneficial to me right now than cardio is!

 

I wasn't really thrilled with the leg day I originally designed for this month so I've modified it a bit. Here's the current agenda:

-Smith machine wide stance squats

-Walking BB lunges w/glute squeezes

-DB plie squats

-Cable side & back leg raises

-Machine leg extensions

-Machine prone hamstring curls superset w/donkey kicks

 

This is a pretty brutal routine and leaves me sore for a good two days afterward. After a friend showed me the donkey kicks earlier this year, I've incorporated them into almost all of my leg routines. They are awesome glute burners! What's your favorite leg exercise? I'd love to get some good idea for future workouts that I design for both myself and clients. My plans usually incorporate traditional moves that are always effective (squats, lunges, etc.) but it's nice to add-in somthing new and creative to avoid boredom and plateaus!

 

Anyway, people are wrapping up the day here and I am about to heat up my fav banana nut Quest bar as my pre-gym snack. Happy Friday everyone! Keep up the hard work in the gym and stay away from the number 13! xo